"You do not have any evidence regarding my wife's death in Lesotho, so I suggest you stop that," Mr Frederiksen, a gun shop owner, told the hearing in Bloemfontein.

When he learned in prison that his wife had died, "it changed everything in my life", he said. Mr Frederiksen is asking to be released on bail, but the state argues he should not, adding that he was in South Africa on fraudulent papers.

The state says Mr Frederiksen sliced off women's genitalia and kept them in the freezer.

He is pleading guilty to a number of charges, including conspiracy to murder, assault, bigamy and production and distribution of child pornography.

He told the court he did not take pornographic images of children and that he and his wife had used surgical equipment for body piercings only.

A women's rights group that has attended the hearings says he should not be freed before his trial.